(BENSENVILLE, Ill.) Police might use federal grant money to help bolster its tactical team when it is reinstituted next year.
Trustees could decide next month that the $13,627 grant will buy two laptop computers for the team, which was disbanded earlier this year in the wake of a department scandal.
Tactical officers, used in drug and gang intervention detail, were reassigned to foot patrol when 10 officers were suspended in January and accused of under-reporting income earned while moonlighting for an unlicensed security firm operating out of the department.
When the team comes back into operation, their unmarked cars could be equipped with state-of-the-art computers, police officials said last Wednesday.
This is the first time the village has received a Local Law Enforcement Block Grant Program grant administered by the U.S. Justice Department.
The grant can be used to help start new programs or buy equipment to bolster law enforcement.
The funds cannot be used to supplement salaries of members of the force, department officials said.
“The grants have been used by other departments to buy computer equipment,” Deputy Chief Frank Kosman said.
The village had considered using the money to help start a canine unit or hire part-time officers to work foot patrols during the summer.
A canine unit would have enhanced the department’s ability to make drug arrests. The cost would be $9,000 for the dog and its initial training.
The part-time officers would have patrolled the Hamilton Townhouses and other areas. Cost to the department would be $15,300.
“We will be incorporating these two programs into the department’s budget for next year,” Village President John Geils said last week.
(iSyndicate; Chicago Daily Herald; Nov. 15, 2000) Terms and Conditions: Copyright( 2000 LEXIS-NEXIS, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights Reserved.